Pieces of the Puzzle

The scene around Jack began to shift and dissolve, swirling around him like a thick fog as the world of Nat’s memories began to evolve. After a few moments, it settled, and he was now standing in a small graveyard situated next to a small chapel. Nat was standing right in front of him, sniffling as she stood over a gravestone marking freshly turned earth. Jack hesitantly walked forward to stand next to her, staring down at the rock that was etched with his name. Both he and the past Nat glanced up as there came the sound of small, rapid footsteps, and he saw Nat hurriedly wipe her eyes as a small child ran up to her and clung to her dress.

“Nat! It’s awful! There’s a huge forest fire, and my foal got scared and ran away! The fires will reach there soon, but none of the adults will go after it!” the little girl wailed and buried her face into the elder’s skirt. Nat forgot her despair and gently stroked the young girl’s hair.

“There, there. Show me where your foal ran away. I’ll go find it for you,” Nat soothed, and Jack followed silently as the girl took Nat’s hand and dragged her to the edge of the village. Men were running this way and that with pails of water, desperately trying to douse the fires encroaching on the settlement; a steady wind was blowing the fires to the west, but the flames were still too close for comfort. The little girl pointed in that direction, where the fires had not yet reached, and Nat stood there for a moment, contemplating the risk. “I have time,” Jack heard her murmur, and she bade the child to stay put while she plunged into the trees.

Jack followed her through her search, unable to offer any criticism or advice as she called for the young animal. The air was growing hotter by the minute as the fires were spurred on, and Nat’s voice began to grow hoarse. Eventually they found their way to a sizeable lake, adorned with lush greenery and flowers. It was here that the baby horse had sought shelter, curled into a ball near a fallen log and trembling. Nat ran over and gently coaxed it to its feet, but when she turned to guide it home, she found the way blocked by roaring flames. Guided by the wind, the fires had circled the lake and was drawing nearer. Nat picked up the young horse and waded into the waters of the lake, her dress and the terrified animal weighing her down considerably. Jack could only watch in agony as she struggled to stay afloat, gasping for breath.

Jack looked up when he heard a long groaning sound, and gasped when he saw a massive tree slowly falling as it was burned away by the fierce fires, and was bearing down on the two figures in the lake with increasing speed.

“Look out!” he called to Nat, but the girl could not hear him, and Jack threw up his arms as the waters of the lake surged upward as the tree crashed into it. When he lowered them, the memory had vanished and he was now standing back in Tooth’s palace. The present Nat was standing in front of her, her eyes wide with shock as she stared at the tube in Jack’s hand. “I… I can explain,” Jack murmured weakly.

“You looked in my memories?” she whispered. She had a look of utter betrayal on her face, as if she couldn’t fathom that Jack would dare intrude on her past.

“I wanted to know why you hated me…” Jack admitted, and Nat’s expression turned even more pained.

“I can’t believe you…!” she whispered, and Jack felt his heart twist in guilt as he saw the tears streaming down her cheeks. “I… I…” In her anger, she struggled to form a coherent sentence, and then with a flourish she turned on her heel and ran out of the room. Jack dropped the tube and dashed after her.

“Nat! Wait! I don’t understand,” he yelled after her as he followed her through the twisting halls of the Tooth Palace.

“You don’t understand?” she screeched, suddenly whipping around to face him. Jack slid to a halt, nearly crashing into the girl, and she furiously jabbed him in the chest. “Those are my memories! They’re not for you to go and peruse through as you please! Those… Those are sacred!”

“I-I’m sorry… I just wanted to know what I had done for you to hate me so much,” Jack mumbled, and Nat let out an incoherent screech and pulled at her hair, turning away from him.

“Don’t you get it? I don’t hate you!” she yelled as if it were obvious. She then fell silent for a moment, sniffling, and added lowly, “I hate myself.” While Jack was absorbing the bombshell she had just dropped on him, she brought her hand to her mouth and whistled loudly before running through the rest of the hallway. Jack finally stirred himself to move just in time to see Nat climbing on the back of her Pegasus and disappearing into the sky. He merely stood there in shock, watching her form shrink in size as Baby Tooth fluttered up to his shoulder.

“… Yeah. I messed up,” he murmured, then cringed when the Tooth Fairy flew in with a shocked, angry expression.

“Jack? What did you do?”